Sir – March 8 is International Women’s Day and I would like readers of The Oxford Times to consider how different our lives are to those of women in the developing world.

Women carry the bulk of the burden when it comes to poverty — literally. In countries throughout Africa and Asia, women carry, on average, 20kg at a time in water and firewood — the weight of the standard airport luggage allowance.

Walking for miles to collect basic necessities is a responsibility which usually falls upon women and girls. Tasks which take seconds in the UK can mean backbreaking work in poor communities, keeping girls from attending school and women from paid work. This comes at a high cost. In some countries, a girl is more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than finish primary education. In 2012, this is unacceptable.

I’m marking International Women’s Day by joining CARE International’s ‘Walk in Her Shoes’ campaign. I will be walking 10,000 steps (around five miles) a day for a week while raising vital funds that will make a real difference. By raising £100, I can help build a water pump close to a poor community, saving a girl’s gruelling daily walk and giving her a fighting chance to fulfil her potential.

I encourage readers, both men and women, to take this opportunity to walk shoulder to shoulder with those for whom survival is an uphill struggle.

Please visit www.careinternational.org.uk/ walkinhershoes — and join in.

Harriet Brinton, Oxford